SEX ROMP GIRL OVER THE HUMP
A STEWARDESS who left a luxury yacht unattended while she and the skipper had sex was given a pay rise and promotion after the drunken romp.
Deckhand Cheya Handley, 26, and skipper Jeremy “JJ” Piggott, 46, let the Crystal Blue drift for 10 minutes without lights while they had intercourse near Wavebreak Island in the early hours of March 3, 2018.
Before the fling the 24m boat – which costs about $1600 an hour to charter – had hit a channel marker and moored boat and run aground multiple times on an 86km trip from Brisbane to the Gold Coast.
Handley has not been held accountable for any of the collisions or damage to the boat.
The pair were bringing the boat back to the Gold Coast following a fourhour charter in Brisbane during which guests partied with topless waitresses.
Those collisions left large scrapes of the side of the Crystal Blue and an estimated damage bill of $140,000.
Handley, a former stunt woman at Universal Studios in Japan, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday to one count of risking the safety of a person or commercial vessel.
She walked from court with a $1000 good behaviour bond for six months and no conviction recorded.
“(The offence occurred) in the channel adjacent to Wavebreak Island where the vessel drifted, unanchored and unlit, while the defendant and the master of vessel Jeremy ‘JJ’ Piggott were engaged in sexual intercourse on the bow of the vessel,” Prosecutor Jeffrey Hunter said.
Mr Hunter said Piggott was using a remote control to drive the boat while the pair had sex.
“The idea this vessel would be adrift at night with nobody keeping lookout would cause significant risk to those using waterways and those on board the Crystal Blue,” he said.
The pair were heavily intoxicated at the time.
Defence barrister David Funch, instructed by Howden Saggers Lawyers, said Handley had not only gotten her job back with the Crystal Blue but had been promoted and given a pay rise.
“She still works as a deckhand and now has greater responsibility in respect of the operational side,” he said.
Following the romantic interlude Handley had been fired.
She got her job back after taking part in an interview with Maritime Safety Queensland.
Mr Funch said there was a complex power dynamic between Handley and Piggott, who was in charge of the boat as the skipper. “When a master tells you to jump, you say how high ... that is how it is in the marine industry,” he said.
Mr Funch said Handley had worked in the marine industry since she was 13 and hoped to join the Navy.
During sentencing, Magistrate Andrew Sinclair said he took into account the high level of media coverage of the “embarrassing” incident.
“Young people seem to want to be famous these days but you attracted a fair degree of publicity which would not have been pleasant for you,” he said. Mr Sinclair said he also took into account the power dynamic between Handley and Piggott.
Piggott pleaded guilty in August to two counts of master recklessly contravening his duty to ensure safety of vessels, marine safety equipment or operations. He was fined $4000 and placed on a good behaviour bond for two years.